Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, May 25

TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK by Richard Eng

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 – 6 furlongs, Purse $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

1 The Cleaners – Strong second last time out; draws the rail to save all of the ground, has back class to repeat the performance.

6 Alpine Luck – Cuts back in distance and drops down in class; figures to sit in arrears and make one late brush.

Long Shot – 3 Finallygotabentley

Race 2 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

3 Jaycee’s Humor – Showed some improvement in last when switched to Rafael Bejarano; has had two bad posts, now draws inside tonight.

7 Scandal – Well bred son of Blame has underachieved so far in her career; at some point I expect her to start wearing blinkers on.

Long Shot – 1 Tiz Addictedtolove

Race 3 – 6 furlongs, $100,000 Los Angeles, 3-year-olds and up

5 Distinctiv Passion – Chance to be lone early speed if aggressively ridden; only 4 in the field but it’s no gimme for any of them.

4 Wild Dude – His best efforts have come at Santa Anita; Rafael Bejarano prefers to sit a trip and try to rally late.

Long Shot – 6 San Onofre

Race 4 – 1 1/16th miles, Purse $32,000, Claiming $25,000, 3-year-olds and up

5 Knock Em Flat – Claimed by Keith Desormeaux off a sharp win in last; he legs up his brother Kent who rides first call for him.

6 I Don’t Care Who – Did everything but win last time in a narrow nose loss; Richard Baltas running the hottest barn at the meet.

Long Shot – 7 Nicklaus Way

Race 5 – 1 mile, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds and up

7 Rosicky – Carla Gaines barn has slumped since her main assistant, Ricky Agarie, flew the coop; adding blinkers on for the money shot.

11 Iron Fist – Should draw in off the also eligible list; goes 2-turns for the first time after a big sprint effort in last.

Long Shot – 8 Win the Space

Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

10 Entrechat – The thing about the hillside course is the outer posts are preferred; her two starts down the hill were both excellent.

4 Divina Comedia – Educational debut where she sat in arrears early and gained ground too late; should be a lot tighter for this.

Long Shot – 1 Curlin’s Fox

Race 7 – 6 furlongs, Purse $25,000, Claiming $25,000, 3-year-olds and up

7 Secret Command – Strong trainer angle is returning a layoff horse in a claim proof spot; Kent Desormeaux rides for Bob Hess.

12 Public Policy – Must overcome a parking lot post; has good early speed to secure position before getting floated on the far turn.

Long Shot – 2 Flat Gone

Race 8 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 8 feet), $300,000 Gamely, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

8 Danza Cavallo – Two Eastern shippers could end up dominating this stakes; Irad Ortiz had choices and opted to ride for Chad Brown.

9 Hard Not to Like – This is the other East Coast shipper; easy to recruit facing a fairly pedestrian distaff turf division.

Long Shot – 4 Fanticola

Race 9 – 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

2 Soul Crusher – Sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to this bottom rung; his race two back is fast enough to upset these.

6 Show and Tell – When Rafael Bejarano stays for the finale, he means business; riding quite a few for Vann Belvoir on today’s card.

Long Shot – 3 Coach John

Best Bet – 8 Danza Cavallo (race 8)

Santa Anita Sunday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 18/3/$11.20; Long Shots, 9/1/$9.80; Best Bet, 1/1/$3.60

Santa Anita Meet Totals – 249/63/$372.20; Long Shots, 122/20/$245.20; Best Bets, 15/7/$28.20

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #5 Tapiture (7/5) in race 9 at Lone Star Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Sunday, Meshell ran third at Churchill Downs paying $2.40 to show. Stats – 71/47/$348.70; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick